Pant-type absorbent articles include a pant-shaped chassis structure and an integrated absorbent core component. The aim when constructing pant articles is to make them resemble ordinary underwear as closely as possible. Hence, absorbent articles such as pant diapers, sanitary pants and incontinence pants are designed to fit comfortably and snugly about the wearer. It is desirable that the articles are capable of being pulled up and down over the hips of the wearer to allow the wearer or caregiver to easily remove a soiled article and replace it with a new clean article. For these reasons, the article chassis is usually made of a material that is elastically stretchable, at least in the areas intended to be applied over the wearer's hips. Furthermore, it is desirable that the chassis surrounding the absorbent parts of the pant article is permeable to air and vapour, i.e. that it is breathable. A breathable article prevents moisture from remaining on the skin of the wearer and is more comfortable and less warm to wear than a non-breathable article. It is also beneficial if the article is soft, smooth and textile-like, so that it does not chafe the skin of the wearer and so that it resembles ordinary underwear as closely as possible.
Moreover, it is desirable that the absorbent pant article can be pulled up over the hips of a wearer without rupturing. A common problem is that the wearer or the caregiver ruins the pant by inadvertently running the fingers through the material when trying to get a good grip for pulling up or removing the pant.
A previously used elastic material for pant articles is a laminate comprising an elastic film sandwiched between two layers of non-elastic nonwoven. In order to render the laminate elastically stretchable, it is subjected to an activation treatment. A three-layer, activated laminate is disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 03/047488. The activated laminate is produced by incrementally stretching an elastic film layer between two non-elastic cloth-like layers. Incremental stretching is carried out by passing the laminate between intermeshing gear rollers. Activation of elastic laminates by incremental stretching is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,679, 5,156,793 5,167,897, 5,422,172, 5,592,690, 5,634,216 and 5,861,074. The non-elastic cloth-like layers are fully or partially broken or torn during the activation process so that the elasticity of the laminate after activation is mainly governed by the elasticity of the elastic film layer. In the three-layer laminate in WO 03/047488, the non-elastic layers are completely broken so that the elasticity of the activated laminate is substantially the same as the elasticity of the elastic film layer.
The disclosed laminates have excellent comfort properties and are soft, breathable and elastic. However, a major disadvantage with the known laminates is that the activation process at least partially breaks and destroys the cloth-like layers resulting in an activated laminate having decreased tensile strength and puncture resistance. When used as a chassis component in a disposable pant article, the material is easily torn when exposed to the forces arising when putting on or pulling off the pant article. This tearing problem is particularly pronounced for female wearers or caregivers who often have long fingernails that may penetrate and tear the pant material.
Hence, there exists a need for an improved elastically stretchable, textile-like laminate for use in disposable pant articles. Moreover, there exists a need for a process for producing such a laminate.